A Page is a view of the Model
A Page, which some people call a sheet or a tab, is a stack of blocks that read from the Model. Your P&L, your hiring plan, and a board report can all show the same Cash Variable. When a new hire moves cash, every Page that shows Cash changes with it, because each one asks the Model for the value. Pages nest. A Page can hold subpages, so a Page with subpages works like a folder. For example, a Board Page can hold one subpage per meeting, and a Plans Page can hold the forecast and the headcount plan. cfo.ai has no other kind of folder. Ari creates Pages as it builds, such as a Page for each statement in a forecast. You can tell it where its work goes, such as “add this to the Board Page” or “put the new Pages under Plans”, and ask it to rename, move, or delete Pages. See Create and organize Pages and blocks. Pages follow Scenarios too. The Pages in Main appear in every Scenario that branches from it, but a Page you or Ari add while viewing a Scenario exists only in that Scenario until you merge it into Main. See Scenarios, Snapshots, and version history.Three kinds of block
Some Pages also have chart blocks from earlier versions of cfo.ai, which still show their charts and can still be restyled. New charts are Canvas blocks: the Add block menu offers a blank Canvas block, not a chart, and Ari builds the chart in it.
What a Table block calculates and what it only presents
A Table block holds no numbers of its own. It names the Variables to show, the Dimensions that break them down, such as Department, and the dates across the top. The Model calculates each value from the Variable’s formula, and the table presents the result. That split decides where a change lands:- Typing a value or writing a formula changes the Variable in the Model, so every table and chart that shows that cell changes too.
- The Variable’s own number format, such as currency with no decimals, is where every table and chart starts. Ari can change it for you.
- Presentation belongs to the table alone. That covers which rows and columns show, their order, filters, hidden rows, column widths, the date range, and Scenario comparison columns. It also covers what you pick in the table’s Format and display menu, such as a fill color, bold text, an indent, or a different number format or precision for this table.
- A summary column, such as a total at the end of a group of months, only summarizes the cells the table shows and saves no formula. A breakdown total, the parent row above a breakdown, is a formula. See How formulas work.
Canvas blocks read live data
A Canvas block reads the Model the way a table does. It names datasets, each a set of Variables broken down by Dimensions and dates, and the Model calculates them every time the block loads. When Actuals sync overnight or someone changes an assumption, the chart redraws with the new values. A blank or error cell, such as#DIV/0! from a formula, reaches the visual as no value; the fix is in the Model, not in the chart.
A Canvas block reads the Scenario of the Page you are viewing, unless a dataset names another one. One block can read up to three Scenarios, so a single chart can show Main, an Upside, and a Downside side by side. Everyone who can read the Page sees the data of every Scenario the block was saved to read, including someone who opened it through a share link. See Sharing and access.
A Canvas block takes its colors, heading typeface, and corner shape from the theme in effect: your workspace brand, or each person’s own theme. A color that Ari fixed on purpose, such as a brand color, stays the same in light and dark mode. A Canvas block cannot show an image from the web or from a file, so a logo or icon inside one is drawn with shapes and text.
Controls change the view, never the Model
A Canvas block can carry sliders, toggles, menus, and buttons. Moving a slider shows what would happen, such as how cash runway responds to a later hiring date, without saving anything. A control never writes a value into the Model. To change an assumption, edit it in a Table block or ask Ari. A block can save a control’s setting, such as monthly or quarterly, when it was built to. The saved setting belongs to that block in that Scenario, and everyone who opens the Page sees it. A button in a block can open another Page, start a Guide, or start a chat with Ari, but it never changes the Model either. See Change a chart or Canvas block.How Ari checks a visual
To check a Canvas block it built or changed, Ari renders the saved block in a browser with live data, once in light mode and once in dark mode, at a width of 1,200 pixels. It reads the errors and warnings from those renders, such as a chart series with blank or error cells. When a render finishes without an error, Ari also reads what each chart plotted: for each series the chart shows, how many points it drew and its first, last, lowest, and highest point. It can fix the block before it answers. The check has limits. It does not click buttons, type into fields, follow links, or start Guides, so what those do is first tried when you use them. It does not check the block at other widths. A clean render also does not prove the numbers are right; that comes from the Model’s formulas, which you can trace from any table. See How Ari works with you.The Page’s date range
A Page that holds a table, a chart, or a Canvas block with data has a date-range control in its title row. Changing it sets the same range on every table, chart, and Canvas dataset on the Page at once.Choosing a block
To choose the right chart for a question, see Prompt library.